Madrid, despite being the capital of Spain, is a relatively small but very lively city with lots to see and do. We have an exchange agreement with the UAM (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid) which is situated on the edge of the city on a huge, modern campus. It took me as long to walk from the train station on one side of the campus to the Centro de Biologia Molecular on the other side, as it did to get from the centre of Madrid to Cantoblanco. Naturally, I had a brilliant dinner including squid balls cooked in ink at a great restaurant near the Opera. I was absurdly early by Madrid standards, eating at the 9p.m opening time.
Local Information: Term dates are usually start of September to the end of May (Academic calendar available here: http://www.uam.es/ss/Satellite/es/1234886368828/1234886369299/generico/generico/Ensenanzas_de_grado.htm) LOTS of bank holidays, find details here: http://www.calendarioslaborales.com/calendario-laboral-madrid-2013.htm. Make sure to check out the Erasmus club. They do loads of activities and trips, especially in the first term. Website here: http://www.esnuam.org/ There’s a map of the uni here: http://teguam.es/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/PlanoUAM2013.jpg and metro and cercanias maps here: http://www.metromadrid.es/en/viaja_en_metro/red_de_metro/planos/ and here: http://en.redtransporte.com/madrid/cercanias-renfe/map.pdf
Travel: The uni is NOT accessible by metro! You must get the cercanias commuter trains (line C-4) or the bus (route 714 from plaza de castilla). The uni stop is ‘Cantoblanco Universidad’ Under 23s can get a young person’s season ticket (abono joven) which covers all forms of public transport. You have to buy this from an estanco (shops with red signs saying ‘tabacos’) and you need a passport photo. You can also get season tickets for just the cercanias and bus. The university is in zone B2 so make sure your ticket covers this area.
The metro makes it pretty easy to get around the city generally and is pretty cheap and safe. It closes about 2am and opens about 6am, there are buses and night buses but I never managed to work them out (Spaniards tend to go out later so by the time you’re coming home the metro has reopened.) I caught a taxi once and it was pretty cheap. Further afield it’s buses and trains, both are very luxurious but expensive compared to the UK, there aren’t really any cheaper options. Some of my friends used BlaBlaCar (http://www.blablacar.com/) which is basically like organised hitchhiking, might be useful if you’re travelling with a friend?
Useful paperwork to take with you: All Spaniards and foreigners who live in Spain permanently have a NIF/NIE (national identity number) and a DNI (identity card showing number). You don’t need one because you’re not a permanent resident, the process to get one is very complicated and I think it costs. Your passport number is the equivalent so learn it or keep it handy, you need it for all paperwork. I never carried my passport around with me and if you’re asked for your DNI (for example every time you buy something with a credit/debit card) your driving license is usually fine. You often need passport photos, especially at the start so get a set printed. You will also need to take your learning agreement.
Local bureaucracy, language issues: There’s loads of paperwork from the university to fill in the first few weeks, all with different deadline dates and different offices to hand into. Make sure to keep on top of it and get everything done ASAP. Try to apply for your student card online BEFORE term starts as they take ages to sort them. I had no language issues, the Erasmus group offers free Spanish lessons (http://www.esnuam.org/) if you’re struggling.
Financial matters: You can apply for an Erasmus grant to help with the cost of flying to/from Madrid. Flights are pretty cheap (about £60-80 return Madrid to London). Living costs are a lot lower than in London. If you qualify for a maintenance loan/grant you will still receive this. Neither uni charges tuition fees for the year so you will not need your tuition fee loan. You will need your passport and contract for your flat to open a bank account. Some banks also require you to have a NIE (like a foreign identity number) but it’s really complicated to get one. I know that Santander didn’t need this and they also have a bank on campus that’s pretty useful (even if it does have very strange opening hours), so it’s easiest just to go with them.
Social Activities: The Erasmus group (ESN) is about the only organised social group. They don’t have clubs or societies like in the UK but the ESN organises activities and trips for Erasmus students and is a great way to meet people. Membership costs 5€ and you will need a passport photo and your passport number for their membership card.
Food, pubs clubs, bars: Food=Tapas. There’s loads of great tapas bars around Sol, there’s a side street called Calle de Cadiz (or something like that) just south of sol that has a few good places. 100 montaditos is a chain bar that sells everything for 1€ on Wednesdays and Sundays and is always full of students, you can’t miss them they’re everywhere. Another good tapas bar is El Tigre, just north of sol, where you pay 5€ for a pint and get a massive plate of food free. Everyone drinks beer, tinto de verano (like sangria but cheeper) or mojitos. The biggest clubs are Kapital, Independence and Joy, all are pretty expensive (comparable to London prices) but fairly good. I also really liked Space Monkey, a smaller club/bar with indie/rock music nights.
Accommodation: The uni has halls but they are very expensive compared to prices in the city and you usually end up sharing a room. They are also a pain to get back to after a night out. Prices in the city are between about 300€ and 400€ a month depending on where you live. The best places to live are near one of the stations on the c-4 cercanias line (charmatin, nuevos ministerios, sol, atocha). Or near plaza de castilla if you plan on taking the bus. Most Erasmus students (and some Spanish students) live in shared flats, the best place to look for rooms is on the internet, the sites I used were http://www.pisocompartido.com/ and http://www.idealista.com/. The international office at the uni also provides a list of free rooms but I don’t know how often it is updated. There’s plenty of accommodation around so arriving a week early and searching for somewhere is perfectly viable option. Make sure to get a proper contract, even if its just to ensure that the landlord is serious. Deposits are usually 1 month’s rent and most places don’t have a fixed time period so as long as you give them a month’s notice you can leave whenever, which is especially useful if you don’t know when you’ll be leaving.
Local places worth a visit: All of Madrid. It’s a great city to explore. Outside of Madrid there’s Toledo and Segovia which are really easy to get to by train or bus. The Erasmus group also do cheap weekend trips further afield all year round.
Things to avoid: Make sure you have internet in the flat because it does not come as standard and it is a pain in the ass to get it installed. To get internet you need a NIE or national identity number which you won’t have. Foreigners can get movistar but it is the most expensive (about €40-50 a month!). It’s ok if the landlord will agree to put internet in for you but do not take responsibility for it yourself (I made that mistake).
Also make sure you know whether bills are included (adverts will say ‘gastos incluidos’) or not and if internet is included in bills (generally not).
Where to go for help: The university assigns you a tutor when you first arrive. The ‘oficina de relaciones internacionales y movilidad’ (international student office) can be helpful and also the ‘oficina de orientacion y atencion al estudiante’ (student help office).
Health matters: I never had any problems so I really don’t know! Imperial covers you for health insurance (you have to fill to a health questionnaire before you leave) so just make sure you have your EHIC and college heath insurance details to hand if you need them.
Comments on any courses taken: I didn’t take courses, I worked in a lab all year.
Comments on project/lab: My lab project was in a group from the Centro de Biologia Molecular (CBM also called CBMSO) which is a joint venture between the university (UAM) and the government department of sciences (CSIC). Make sure that you can get someone from the UAM to sign off as your link to the uni as many of the supervisors are employed by CSIC. The lab project itself was great, the CBM has really great facilities. There are a lot of labs within the centre (see this site for more info: http://web4.cbm.uam.es/joomla-rl/index.php/en/) and pretty much anything you’re interested in is being investigated. Lab groups were of varying quality but mine was great, I can’t really say much about the others apart from to take a look where they tend to publish their papers. I think you can also do labs at the Centro Nacional de Biotechnologia if you’re interested in biotech, but I’m not entirely sure so you should check.
Preparing your report write-ups: My supervisors and everyone in the lab were great with advice on write ups. Make sure you connect to imperial’s VPN so that you can easily access papers and stuff (the VPN is also handy for watching BBC iPlayer, which is restricted outside the UK).
Comments on College Project Tutor visit: This was very useful for me especially getting feedback on my interim report. It was also quite informal so don’t worry too much about it!
Preparation for final year while abroad: Imperial should keep you up to date with when you need to make your choices for final year.
Any other suggestions or comments: Have fun and don’t be afraid to try speaking the language, even if you’re not great, the Spanish are generally really friendly and laidback about everything so they don’t seem to care if you butcher their language too much.
Shop opening hours are sometimes hard to get used to. Generally shops open in the morning then shut about 1pm then open about 5/6pm. Sometimes they close at 1/2pm on Saturdays and don’t reopen which is very frustrating. Very little is open on Sundays. Bigger chain shops tend to have longer opening hours and if you’re really stuck El Corte Ingles in sol is almost always open.